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Monday, March 30, 2009

This week with my son was really great. We did a lot of thing just like old times. We went snowboarding again on Wednesday and Saturday: It was super cold on Wednesday- about 20 degrees and blizzarding, but we still made it a fun day and boarded for about four hours. Saturday was a beautiful day and we had a blast. Daniel helped me finish many projects I had either started or needed to start: he fixed my dresser, a mirror frame, the arm to one of my dining room chairs, he helped me clean the cushions on all eight of my dining room chairs, and we completely finished all the trim projects at Mead. We also played pool at the Moose Lodge two nights and we had a nice family dinner at Chili's.

A spring blizzard hit us on Thursday. Crocs closed it's doors and sent us home. I also stayed home on Friday. It was nice having a couple of extra days off.

Jimi arrived home on Friday. We went to Mike Oshays shared a plate of nachos and then played pool the entire evening. Saturday night I fixed a nice supper and we played monopoly. The game lasted a while and I am happy to report that I did not go bankrupt nor did Jimi end up owning the entire world, but I can admit that if we had not ended the game, more than likely I would have ended up bankrupt and Jimi would have owned the entire world (again).

Sunday morning I took Daniel to the airport. His flight was delayed by over an hour, so I waited with him. I'm not sure what happened to rest of the day, but it passed quickly.

Jennifer did pretty well going to ALL of her classes this week. There is one class she is refusing to go to: Dance Fitness. We are working with her and the school officials to work out her issues with the class. This week is her school's spring break and I'm glad because trying to get her to school is extremely exhausting.

Jimi's trip was awesome. He ended up calling me everyday and said every other day he lucked out with really good shots. His photos are amazing. It is hard for me to decide which to send you. I may post more on our blog, so you can see them there if you want to. Some of the places in Utah he visited were the Flaming House, Peek A Boo Canyon, Zebra Canyon, Dead Horse Canyon, Rifle Falls, Citadel Ruins, Moon House Ruins, and Paria Wave.

Jimi and I are planning a trip to Vietnam and possibly some neighboring countries in November. He purchased our flights on Sunday. We leave November 7th and will return on November 21st. We will finalize more details of our trip in the coming months.

This week we will both have to get back in the groove. We trust all is well with you.

Monday, March 23, 2009

I am excited that my son Daniel arrived Saturday for a week, sad that Jimi left for a week, and disappointed that my daughter has decided school is not important.

Monday evening I went to the Longmont Moose lodge to play pool again. Tuesday I purchased a refrigerator for my rental house, and then headed directly for the bar to celebrate St Patrick's Day. Jimi had class, but drank of beers with us before class and then returned after class for more. We stayed at the Red Zone until 9pm and then walked down the street to Mike O'Shays. After a couple more Guinness’s, we went home at 11pm. It was so much fun. We enjoyed the company of several friends from work and their friends.

Many of you might be interested to hear that Jim Sullivan got married on St. Patty's Day to a gal named Brandy, a real estate agent. He met her in Kingman, AZ and she moved to Boise, ID with him. They have been together for approximately 5 months.

Jimi spent the day on Thursday getting ready for his 10 day trip to Utah over his spring break and then we went to dinner Thursday evening. He left at 5am on Friday morning, focusing his trip on photography. He will have to do some 4-wheeling and a lot of hiking to get to the areas he wants to shoot. We will hear more of the details upon his return.

I spent Friday evening and Saturday working around the house: I lit all the candles, turned on a couple of movies and enjoyed my Lorie time. I picked my son up from the airport Saturday at 6:15pm. I was so excited to see him. We went to the Crocs Warehouse sale in Longmont, than picked up pizza and a movie.

I do not like reporting bad news or sounding negative, but I will tell you that we are having problems with Jennifer. She's not going to school as she should. I realize it could be worse, so I will try to remain positive. We have put some conditions into place and have taken away some privileges, but what can we do with a child who is a few weeks away from turning eighteen?. With Jimi’s help and support (and against Jennifer’s willpower) I am working to get her back on track. I will keep you posted on how things are going.

Sunday morning Daniel and I went snowboarding. We had so much fun: going up and down the mountain, some serious and some goofing around. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the snow was a nice soft slush. Rest of the day, Daniel helped me cut a bunch of trim for the stairs of my rental house, remove the seats of my dining room chairs, so I could wash them, he played Grand Theft Auto on Xbox, we took Miller for a walk and then vegged in front of the boob toob. We also build me a balancing board, moved some things to the basement, and made Daniel a crawler track for his RC car (that he is buying this week). Daniel and I have a lot of plans in the week ahead.

Update on Jimi’s whereabouts:

He called Friday morning at noon just arriving in Moab. He was heading to Cigarette Springs and then to Snowy Flat on Saturday night. He didn't think he would get any signal and said I should hear from him Sunday night or Monday morning at the latest. It was a treat when I got a phone call from him on Saturday night. He said things were going very well and he was getting some good pictures. I heard from him again on Sunday night, but Sunday had not been so successful. He sounded disappointed and tired. He was heading to Hole in the Rock Road: Zebra Canyon, Neon Canyon, and then Peek-a-Boo Canyon. He said he would call me Wednesday.

I am expecting this coming week to be good. I am real excited to spend time with Daniel, and Jimi should come home with some really good pictures to share. We hope you enjoy your week as well!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Last week was a good one, but the weekend was great. I’m not sure that anything was really different from any other weekend, but for some reason, I actually feel like I had a weekend and it was really good. I did not hesitate coming back to work on Monday.

I worked for Cencorp, played around with my new Photoshop program, scrap booked and the usual household things. Jimi went to school, did a little side work, worked on the LTD, as well as his usual routines.

I ordered a loan assumption package from my mortgage company. I should have it with in 45 days. As soon I get it, I will actively begin advertising and searching for a buyer. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes smoothly.

I also began searching for a new used refrigerator for the Mead house. My tenant reported that it is working too good and freezing the food.Jimi and I took the LTD to visit our friends, Tom & Linda in Boulder. We had a nice visit and being older they really enjoyed seeing the car. When we got home, we built a fire in the back yard, curled up in a blanket, cooked burgers, and drank a couple of beers. It was sweet!Saturday Jimi and I went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver. I had never been there before. It was really neat; an awesome place to shoot photography. Jimi spent time teaching me about shooting photography. I purchased a digital photography book a few months ago and have been reading up on the subject, but this was the first time I tried taking serious photos. I was surprised that I got some pretty good shots; Not as good as Jimi’s; however, good for me and my camera though. I couldn’t be happier. As always, Jimi got some really good shots.

Later that afternoon we took Miller for a long walk. We sat by the river for a while to let Miller romp and play. It took Miller back to his younger days; chasing sticks and swimming in the river. We stayed for quite a while. Miller had a blast, while Jimi and I liked watching Miller act young again, as well as the quiet time.

Sunday I went snowboarding with my girlfriend, Jana. We stayed for about three hours and had a super time. Jimi stayed home to rebuild the carburetor in the LTD. I think I wasted the rest of Sunday afternoon away. Sunday night we watched a movie together.

Monday, March 9, 2009

All is well here in Colorado. Our week landed itself to a typical routine.

I played pool at the Moose Lodge on Monday evening and visited with my girlfriend, Brenda, on Wednesday night. Friday I broke down and took a two hour snowboard lesson. It was good and I do believe I benefited from it and it will be effective. Putting it into practice is the hard part.

Jimi continues to attend his classes and do his homework. He also spends a great deal of time working on, tinkering with, and driving the LTD.

Jennifer had a dentist appointment on Wednesday, but otherwise went to school and hung with friends.

Thursday evening the three of us went to Zo's Sushi for dinner. I had my first taste of caviar and it was YUMMY. Jennifer, however, nearly barfed watching Jimi and I eat it.

Saturday, around the normal household chores, Jimi and I bled the brakes on the LTD and took both cars to the tire shop for tire balancing and rotation.

Sunday morning Jimi and I went snowboarding and then spent rest of the afternoon at the coffee shop. Experimenting - Jimi cooked a pork roast on the grill - it was incredibly tasty.

Toward the end of March Jimi is planning a nine day trip photographing the southwest. During that time, Daniel will be here visiting. I purchased his plane ticket this week and we are making big plans.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

I’d have to say our week was quite terrific. It began when I came home from work to an enormous

bouquet of flowers: Lilies with smaller orange flowers and baby’s breath; they were sitting on the kitchen table for me. Jimi said he thought they would cheer me up, that he is sorry we are not able to spend as much time together since he is so busy with school and work, and he wanted to let me know that when he is with me he is a better person because otherwise he is a grumpy ole' goat. Needless to say his speech brought tears to my eyes. All week our house has had the aroma of fresh lilies – they are absolutely beautiful. Words cannot express how much the flowers and his other gestures mean to me, nor can words express how much I love him.

Jimi concentrated his week on school and “the 67” car. He met with the head of the multi-media program at school to discuss all the work (portfolio) he lost when his computer crashed. The good news is it looks like he was able to recover enough; things are under control and he is back on track. He also worked on the car and after some tips from his brother, Jeff, it is running tip top. And he cleaned and polished the exterior.

Monday evening I played pool at the Moose lodge with my girl friend. Thursday evening Jimi met his web buddies at the coffee shop, while I took Jennifer and her friend to Hooters for dinner. Friday evening Jimi, Jennifer , and I went to Johnny Carinos for dinner.

Saturday was a big day for Jimi. It was the ski/snowboard competition for the American Cancer Society’s Hope on the Slopes. You will be amazed at Jimi’s stats. What he accomplished was utterly amazing and took a lot of stamina. He snow boarded non-stop from 9am until 2:30pm. He ate while on the lifts and even had a method for potty breaks without wasting time. For 5 ½ hours straight he did 34 runs, 38 miles, and 47,000 vertical feet. As a whole, the event raised $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. We left home for Breckenridge, CO at 6am and arrived back home at 8pm that night. It was a long day; the weather was absolutely beautiful and sunny. I can’t say enough about it or Jimi’s undertaking. Thank you to everyone who donated!!!